Star Trek fans will be delighted to hear that Round 2 has announced a 1:350 Klingon K’t’inga Battlecruiser kit, scheduled for September 2018 release. The kit is based on the miniature which appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and will no doubt conform to Round 2’s high standards of detail and accuracy.

Until now, Trek modellers interested in a 1:350 scale kit of the venerable Klingon ship have had to rely on expensive limited run resin kits. These “garage kits” tend to be relatively costly since independent producers cast the pieces by hand, which is a time consuming process. These producers also pay retail for the resin which goes into the kits, so raw material costs are high. The result is that garage kit prices are never competitive with mass produced injection molded kits. Moreover, the kits require substantially greater modelling skills, and a great deal of patience is often needed to correct surface imperfections in the parts if the quality of the resin is not up to par.

Pricing for a resin garage kit of the K’t’inga could easily run upwards of $USD 500, whereas Round 2 will be offering the kit through dealers at a suggested retail price of $USD 100. This is an incredible bargain. Moreover, the injection molding of the kit means that lighting can be incorporated quite easily (a separate lighting kit will be offered later). Full details of the release are available on Round 2’s website.

The K’t’inga is a fascinating design (as Spock would say), connecting an insectoid pod-shaped head to a delta wing body via a long tubular member. The angled down wingtips terminate in beefy warp nacelles, giving the ship a powerful, broad shouldered look. The K’t’inga’s impulse drive gives off a flickering red glow (the flicker being unique to Klingon technology) which further enhances the menacing look of the ship.

The battlecruiser from the original Star Trek series was designed by Matt Jefferies, who also designed the Enterprise. According to Wikipedia, “the D7-class battlecruiser was designed … to mimic the appearance of a manta ray,” and Jefferies wanted it to appear “threatening, even vicious.”

The K’t’inga which emerged in the Trek films many years later retained most of the original D7 design. The changes were largely cosmetic, consisting mainly of tweaking the geometry and adding surface detail to impart a better sense of scale.

The K’t’inga has made many a bold appearance in the Star Trek films.One of the most memorable was the opening sequence of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which featured three of these magnificent ships facing off against V’ger. This sequence stands as one of the finest visual tributes ever made to a Trek vessel, showcasing the K’t’inga in its full splendour to the backdrop of a rousing martial soundtrack. Although the film was a critical failure, the producers got one thing right, which was giving plenty of screen time to the iconic vessels of StarTrek.

Modellers will have no shortage of inspiration to create a diorama featuring the ship, although working in 1:350 scale will confine this pursuit to those with lots of space!

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

Round 2 has released a 1:48 scale Nuclear Waste Area 2 Diorama Set which will delight fans of the 1970s TV show Space: 1999. Few sci-fi programs have generated such mixed feelings among viewers. On one hand, Brian Johnson’s special effects, taking direct inspiration from 2001: A Space Odyssey, were miles ahead of anything else on TV at the time. On the other hand, the stories lacked drama and failed to capture viewers’ attention, leading to the series being cancelled after two seasons.

Love it or hate it, Space: 1999 has stood the test of time. Itsfan base is still going strong nearly half a century after the show’s cancellation. This has created demand for countless model kits and diecast replicas of the show’s wonderful hardware over the years. Which brings us to Round 2’s latest offering.

The Nuclear Waste Area 2 Diorama Set recalls “Breakaway,” the pilot episode of Space: 1999. In a last minute attempt to avert disaster, Eagle Transporters are dispatched to disperse nuclear waste canisters from the waste area before they can detonate. The attempt is unsuccessful and a massive explosion throws the moon out of earth’s orbit, setting the scene for two seasons of sci-fi adventures.

These components can be used alone or in conjunction with Round 2’s 1:48 Eagle kit to create any number of scenes. All that’s missing is a lunar terrain base, which the resourceful diorama artist can tackle on his own. The really ambitious modeller could add a launch pad and crane to complete the scene. Round 2’s choice of 1:48 scale means that the diorama will have a very big footprint, especially if an Eagle is added.

The initial release of the kit also includes a 1:24 scale moon buggy. This is a curious addition given that it obviously won’t work in the same diorama as the other items. The upside is that the moon buggy could be a precursor to other 1:24 scale kits to come. The laser tanks from “The Infernal Machine” (Season 1, Episode 21) would be an excellent choice. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

A few months ago we looked at a series of backdrops by Coastal Kits, which are designed to provide modellers with an easy way to simulate the look of an aircraft in flight. The photorealistic backdrops feature a blur effect to simulate motion. Of course, backdrops can be static as well. For modellers interested in creating a static scene, a new series of paper backgrounds from Hakoniwa-Giken might fit the bill. Measuring 90 by 60 centimetres, these photorealistic backdrops can be used to showcase aircraft, spacecraft, and even model trains.

The aircraft backdrops include cloud filled skies as well as complete hangar scenes. The sci-fi backdrops include moonscapes, planets and spacecraft hangars. They can be positioned flat behind your model or, for hangar scenes, folded 90 degrees to provide both a base and a backdrop.

For those who want to go a step further, these backdrops could be adapted to a shadowbox. This would provide more control over lighting and create a more finished presentation.

Hakoniwa-Giken’s website is grouped by model type (note that the sci-fi products are under the ship section). The manufacturer provides a complete list of specifications for each sheet and links to their eBay store. Their products are also available through HobbyLink Japan.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

October 6, 2017 marked the North American release of Blade Runner 2049, the long anticipated sequel to the dystopian sci-fi noir classic from 1982. The original Blade Runner was a triumph of production design, blessed with wonderful hardware like Deckard’s gun, the Voigt-Kampff machine, and of course, the spinner.

Conceptual artist Syd Mead designed the original police spinner, which became a visual icon of the 1982 film. This elegant craft was equally at home on city streets and in the air. With no wings or visible means of propulsion, it could nevertheless take off and land vertically and fly like a conventional aircraft, its police flashers casting red and blue beams through the rain drenched night.

Like its predecessor, the spinner used by Ryan Gosling’s character, K, in Blade Runner 2049 is an integral part of the film. One of the most popular publicity stills from the movie features a shot of K exiting the spinner as the driver’s side door scissors shut. What’s striking about K’s spinner is its bold, angular design, which is completely different from the original police spinner.

Let’s talk a bit about automotive design. All car designs, including the earth-bound vehicles of today and the airborne versions of tomorrow, can be roughly grouped into two camps: curves and angles. Curvaceous cars, like Ferraris, have fluid, feminine lines and soft edges, while angular cars, like Jeeps and Land Rovers, have straight, masculine lines and strong angles. If you want to draw a Ferrari, you need a set of French curves, whereas for a Jeep, a ruler will do.

Most cars today fall in the curvy category because soft edges generally yield a lower drag coefficient. This means lower fuel consumption, so the approach is rooted in practicality. Most people also seem to prefer curves over angles, and this preference is so strong that they use words like “boxy” to describe angular designs. This is incorrect of course since boxes have right angles, which are rarely found in cars.

Cars are machines, so why should they appear soft, flowing and organic? We make no such demands of toasters and microwave ovens. So thought Giorgetto Giugaro, a brilliant designer who rose to fame in the 1970s by showing the world that angular cars could be beautiful.

Lotus Esprit designed by Giorgetto Giugaro

Giugaro gave us origami inspired masterpieces like the Lotus Esprit and Delorean (the latter coincidentally became a flying car in the film Back To The Future). Angular designs also made their way into the more affordable end of the market, the Fiat X1/9, Toyota MR2 and Volkswagen Scirocco being examples. Today, high performance car manufacturers tend to go either all curvy (like Porsche) or use a blend of curves and angles (like Lamborghini).

Back to K’s spinner. This fine piece of hardware, bearing the nameplate of French automaker Peugeot, is an unabashedly angular design. It incorporates a healthy dose of DNA from the Lotus Esprit and is decidedly different from the other spinners in Blade Runner 2049. The Wallace Corporation spinners, like the one which attacks K and Deckard at the casino penthouse, are devoid of any elegance or grace. Their bulbous, oversized greenhouses give them an ungainly look. This is entirely appropriate. After all, the bad guys always have ugly cars, and the hero has the coolest one.

So how did the design of K’s spinner—which we can all agree is the best Peugeot ever—come about? Production designer Dennis Gassner, in response to director Denis Villeneuve’s request for a “brutal” aesthetic, created a spinner for 2049’s lead character which Gassner calls “robust, angular, and chiseled.” K’s spinner is built on strong triangular motifs which create a bold, masculine look. Its three-wheeled chassis gives it a hint of eccentricity (as you would expect from a Peugeot). And its worn-out, beat-up exterior sets it apart from the well-maintained company cars it goes up against in the film’s climax. This is not a pampered vehicle, but a utilitarian workhorse for a detective on a budget. It fits K much the same way that the 1968 Mustang in Bullitt fit Steve McQueen’s character. These guys don’t sentimentalize their cars. They treat them as disposable tools to get the job done—nothing more. And dispose of them they do. Both the Peugeot and Mustang end up getting ditched.

As with many fictional craft, how the spinner actually flies isn’t addressed in the film. According to an article in Wired magazine, K’s spinner is powered by “a futuristic form of fusion.” This is actually plausible for such a compact vehicle, since fusion propulsion relies on solid lithium propellant, which takes up much less volume than liquid rocket propellant. NASA’s website has a good article on it. “It’s a new technology,” Gassner is quoted as saying, “since in the world of 2049 they don’t really have a lot of fossil fuels or sun to power a car.”

The question on everyone’s mind is, when are we going to see a model kit of K’s spinner? So far, all we have is a couple of diecast toys from Cinemachines (one 3” and one 6”) which are clearly intended for kids. Given that 2049 is an obviously adult film, the marketing logic behind these diecast toys is questionable.

Fujimi did a superb (if not timely) rendition of the spinner from the 1982 film, which was a delight to build. Too bad it didn’t come a few decades sooner. I wired mine with LED lighting and put it in a diorama which you can see here. Hopefully Fujimi has reached out to 2049’s producers for licensing rights and will offer K’s spinner at some point as well. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

Our final installment on The Bay’s festive window displays at their flagship store in Toronto, Canada brings us to an Alice In Wonderland inspired winter scene. The dominant figure is a large rabbit, joined by much smaller figures of children dressed in white. One of the children is perched like a jockey on the rabbit’s back, reins in hand. They are near the entrance to a magical tree which features a snow-covered staircase bathed in warm yellow light, beckoning visitors to enter.

This display features the same transparent spheres containing vignettes of various characters that can be seen in most of The Bay’s displays. In fact, all but one of the five displays (the first one we looked at) has these spheres. In this scene, the spheres are perched on branches like Christmas tree decorations.

Although there is less motion in this display than some of the others, the art department has compensated for this with an animated backdrop of falling snow. This lends some movement to the scene and blends nicely with the snow covered ground.

This display is even more obtuse than the last one we looked at, inviting speculation as to what exactly it’s all about. The staircase leading into the tree is especially effective in arousing our curiosity. We wonder what’s inside. Leaving things unexplained is a great way to heighten interest in a diorama; try it in your next project.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

This week’s installment on The Bay’s festive window displays focuses on a circus ringmaster and his ensemble of performers. This display is notable for its palette of saturated reds. Red is an advancing colour, which means it appears to “pop” or advance towards us. Red is associated with excitement, romance, passion, and last but not least, Christmas. Gold is used as a supporting colour, embellishing the dominant red tones and giving the eye a bit of diversion.

The ringmaster is in the middle of his speech, announcing the next performance to eager spectators who are looking forward to another lavish spectacle. His right hand holds a bullhorn, and both hands are thrust upwards to grab the crowd’s attention.

Next to the ringmaster is a rotating platform with three Victorian era carriages pulled by a steam locomotive. Each carriage contains a diorama of circus performers within. On the central pedestal, several small transparent globes circle a larger globe, each containing additional vignettes of circus performers. So what we have is several small dioramas within a large one, making this a very unique display.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

In our third installment on The Bay’s festive window displays at its flagship store in Toronto, Canada, we have a thought provoking vignette of a white-bearded wizard gazing into his crystal ball. The ball is alive with constantly changing imagery of famous cities around the world. Positioned front and centre, this large transparent sphere is the focal point of the scene, symmetrically framed by a circular metal lattice which encompasses the entire display. Several smaller spheres containing various objects are also featured. There doesn’t seem to be any common theme to these objects. One sphere houses a steam locomotive, and another, a koala bear. They move up and down on cables, adding visual interest.

Of all the displays on show at Hudson’s Bay this Christmas, this one is the most ambiguous. It raises many questions and provides few answers. Based on the design of the lattice and the pedestal on which the globe sits, the scene apperas to be set sometime in the distant past, perhaps during the early days of the Industrial Revolution. But other than that, we know very little. Who is the mysterious wizard and what is he up to? The white beard suggests Santa Claus (minus his familiar red and white Christmas outfit), but he seems much too thin. And Santa is jovial, while this guy looks serious. If we overlook these inconsistencies, the other elements in the scene support the Santa Claus theory: the crystal ball could be a device for seeing who was naughty and who was nice this year. And the locomotive and koala bear could be toys destined for the children who were nice.

As with many works of art, there are several possible interpretations to this window display. Let your imagination fill in the answers.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

Last week we began taking a look at the festive window displays adorning the flagship Hudson’s Bay Company store in Toronto, Canada. Part Two of this series brings us to a display which animal lovers will enjoy: two polar bears raising their arms in a coordinated salute to the Christmas season.

The massive scale of the bears and the large arcs made by their moving arms makes them the focal point of the display. The bears are joined by a supporting cast of other animals indigenous to Canada, which are rendered in a much smaller scale. These include a killer whale, a penguin, walrus, and two narwhals. All the animals perform their own little dance in their transparent globes, all the while rotating on a large turntable.

The entire display is ensconsed in a frosty white frame which gives the impression of looking inside a cave carved out of solid ice. The crowning touch is a video backdrop which shows scenes of the Canadian arctic. Many dioramas have static backdrops (photos or paintings) but video trumps both. Moving pictures are always more eye catching than stills.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

Canadian retailer Hudson’s Bay Company is one of the oldest department store chains in the world. Its origins date back to the early days of Canada, when explorers traded furs to earn their livelihood. While lesser department store names like Eatons and Sears have been torn apart by the whirlwind of change in the retail business, The Bay is still going strong.

The Hudson’s Bay flagship store on Queen St. in Toronto exemplifies the golden age of retail, when there was no Internet and department stores were the go-to destination for a family’s clothing and housewares needs. Like all proper department stores, this one features several large window displays at street level.

Window displays are the department store’s visual greeting to the prospective buyer. A well-done display not only shows the products being sold, but says something about the store and the type of shopping experience it offers. And naturally, this is all done with the bottom line in mind: a catchy display can turn a passing pedestrian into an impulse buyer.

On the cusp of the 2017 Holiday Season, Hudson’s Bay has reignited the glory of traditional retail with a stellar collection of window displays adorning its Toronto flagship store. As diorama artists, we know that window displays are simply large dioramas. The combination of professional talent and generous budgets behind these displays can yield spectacular results, and we can learn a great deal by studying them.

The first display we’re going to look at features three vintage style streetcars circling a stylized Toronto cityscape, complete with a Christmas tree, City Hall and skating rink. To give you an idea of the scale, the streetcars appear to be about O Gauge. They aren’t running on track, but glide elegantly along a loop circuit with no visible means of locomotion.

I’ve spoken before about how light and motion can be used to increase the impact of a diorama. This one checks both boxes. In terms of motion, we have not only running streetcars, but a rotating Christmas tree and animated skaters. Lighting is also used to good effect: the tree, skating rink and building windows are all illuminated. The near total absence of colour gives the display a distinctive look. A uniformly white palette creates a magical, wintery atmosphere and blends all the elements together into a visually cohesive whole.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

Coastal Kits has come up with a simple and effective way to create a diorama with the illusion of motion. By mounting your model aircraft above a Ground Blur display base, the streaked photo-quality backdrop creates the impression that the aircraft is flying at high speed. This is the same motion blur effect which would be achieved by a photographer panning with a flying aircraft while taking the picture.

The bases are a foam board/plastic/vinyl laminate construction and various backgrounds are available. Although Coastal Kits shows the bases in tabletop configuration on its website, you could mount the base on a wall just like a painting, provided you had a sufficiently strong support rod for the aircraft. Since there always seems to be a shortage of space when it comes to displaying dioramas, the wall mount option is an appealing alternative. Just don’t put it in a high traffic area where visitors run the risk of knocking their heads against your aircraft model! See the Coastal Kits website for more information.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to incorporate the illusion of motion into your work, you might like my new book, Diorama Design. It’s available both ebook and print formats at Amazon.